They have previously insisted they were “just good friends” who worked
together.

But when Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter, was seen holidaying with the former beautician and masseuse Phillipa Sage this week, the nature of their relations appeared a little more than friendly.

Spotted with friends on the Greek island of Mykonos on Thursday, the pair were seen kissing on the lips in full view of other holidaymakers.

Sitting down for food and wine at the seafront Nammos restaurant in the Psarou Beach resort, Mr Clarkson’s suntanned, blonde companion affectionately placed her hand on his back and head.

Mr Clarkson cut a relaxed figure in a floral shirt, blue shorts and blue driving loafers, while Ms Sage wore a striped bikini, and later changed into a white sun dress.

Mr Clarkson’s wife, Frances Cain, was nowhere to be seen, and the apparent intimacy between him and Ms Sage raised questions over the status of his marriage.

The pair, who met on the BBC motoring show, have been romantically linked before, but previously denied claims of an affair.

Last November, pictures appeared in a tabloid newspaper of the two enjoying a “romantic city break” in Rome, where they reportedly stayed at the £650-a-night Hotel Ruisse.

When asked after that incident whether he planned to stay with his wife, Mr Clarkson declined to comment.

His publicist also declined to comment yesterday on whether their marriage of two decades was over.

Mr Clarkson, 53, has three children with Ms Cain, who has acted as his manager during his Top Gear career.

When allegations of an affair between himself and Ms Sage first surfaced in 2011, Ms Sage reportedly dismissed them as “nonsense,” insisting she and the television host were merely friends who had worked together for years.

Mr Clarkson’s mother, Shirley, was reported to have said at the time that she was angry that “just because he's famous he has to deal with gossip like this”.

He wrote in his newspaper column in 2011 of moving into an unfurnished flat in Bayswater, central London, but he and his wife insisted it was for use only while he was filming for the BBC in the capital.

The television host has previously attempted to conceal details of his private life, but last year lifted an injunction he had taken out following internet rumours he had been having an extra-marital affair with his ex-wife, Alexandra Hall.

The order banned reporting of “sexual or other intimate acts or dealings” between himself and Mrs Hall.

After overturning the injunction, he said such orders were “pointless” and “massively expensive”.

He had previously argued in favour of them, however, writing in his column: "I am not a saint. And as I'm in the pay of the BBC – a publicly funded body – it might seem reasonable for newspapers to question some of my lifestyle choices.

“But they wouldn't question them. They'd demand that I be sacked."

Accounts revealed last month that Mr Clarkson, who shared a £2 million Cotswolds home with his wife, had become one of the highest paid presenters in the history of the BBC after taking home £14 million for his work on Top Gear.

He was paid £8.4 million for his stake in a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, which exploits Top Gear's global brand, as well as receiving a £4.86 million dividend payment.